I'm weary from allergy medication, the last remnants of a summer coming to a close. Labor Day gas prices have kept us at home, even though we hadn't planned on going anywhere. Besides, putting the second issue of the newspaper out gets me one step closer to my universal truth about being a student editor:

"If you survive the first three issues, the rest of the year will go just fine."

Why three? The logic is this:

  • The first issue is mostly done with a skeleton crew. Any trouble you have with it can be handled quickly, because you've got your hands on every single aspect of production. Frustration is eased by simply changing the plan around the problem. Nobody argues with the strategy.
  • The second issue marks the infusion of other people taking greater responsibility for production aspects. You try to stay as hands-off as possible, but teaching moments abound. You preach the virtues of following the production schedule, but expectations aren't that high that it will ever be followed.
  • The third issue is probably the toughest. This one you have to put full confidence in your staff to handle the work load. Chances are, most of what you have said will not find its way into practice. Habits are solidified, and any sticking points you have in the schedule are going to remain for the remainder of the year unless you take them head on. Making your way through this one is tough, but there is a great sense of relief once it is finished.
  • By the fourth issue, you start realizing that everyone's got their own approach to their jobs, and your way may not be necessarily better. You relax that micro-managing tendency, and just handle your responsibilities (which have likely suffered from your anxiety). Relax, breathe. This issue may be late to the press, but at least everyone knows how it is supposed to work.

Oh yeah. And then there are classes.

My Geology 110 class isn't too tough. Then again, I have already seen the first four weeks worth of material last spring prior to dropping the course. Paying a bit more attention in class might be the key to success this time around.

Finance 301 is shaping up to be your typical business class. I do notice, however, that my colleagues are more attentive than they have been in other classes. This is hardly an elective for any of us, so we might as well enjoy it. Compare this to my accounting class last semester, where the majority of students were engineering majors who were bored out of their minds.

Voice and Diction. Communications 220 is the kind of course that exists in some form or other in every major. The kind that that students put off until his or her time in college is almost up. The class is purported to require more time than any other class at UT Martin, mostly in the form of practice logs, required reading, and 15 minutes a week of audio tapes to be handed in. The rest of the major is a cake-walk once this course is out of the way.

It's evident that I've been through quite a few foreign language classes in college, or at least the first few days. Spanish 115 is the fourth such course I've started (Spanish 111, 122, German 111), so no surprises there. If I can manage to drag myself to the labs on a semi-regular basis and pass the tests, I'll be just fine.

English 251 looks like a redux of 250, just three different time periods. I usually do 'B' level work in English classes, not because I don't want the 'A', but because I have this odd disposition against reading books. If I can put that aside, things will be just fine.

So the question becomes, "Can I get a 4.0 in the last semester G.P.A. counts for something?" In short, I have no idea. Any one of these classes could be an 'A,' but likely lean more towards a 'B.' I think at this point the goal is just to make them count toward getting out of here.

That's the goal, anyway.